I think Greinke is out of the question, especially his 9 inning, 12k route of Cincy. Hart has never hit more than 24 homers ever, and has been mediocre in several other categories. Could he be breaking out? Sure! But it may be the case that Hart is the type of guy that you would get more value from by starting him in your lineup, not trading him.

teaaker wrote:I think Greinke is out of the question, especially his 9 inning, 12k route of Cincy. Hart has never hit more than 24 homers ever, and has been mediocre in several other categories. Could he be breaking out? Sure! But it may be the case that Hart is the type of guy that you would get more value from by starting him in your lineup, not trading him.

i agree w this. i wouldnt trade anybody i dratted for him. yes its weird...but im always more tied to the guys i drafted than the guys i pick up on FA

Really tough to figure Corey out. He's always been a bit streaky, and this is a career best power surge for him. His 21% HR/FB rate is unsustainable, but the rest of his peripherals suggest he's turned a corner. In fact, his .257 BABIP (career .301) suggests he's actually been unlucky lately, at least batting average wise. He has a career-high walk rate, he actually has a positive runs above average value against the slider (a career-long nemesis), and he has the lowest out-of-zone swing % of his career. All of this matches up with the "eyeball" test...he just looks better and more comfortable at the plate.

That said, he's locked in right now...he's even hitting hard outs. He's shown this before only to come crashing down. So he may be a trade high guy (heck, I'm hoping the Brewers realize that too)...I guess it would depend on the value other people have on him. But it wouldn't kill me to hold on to him and ride him out, see where this goes. Worst case, he tanks again and you lose, what, a free agent or late pick investment?

It's easy to figure out for me, but that's because I'm a die-hard Brewers fan who's watched his entire career. The short version of what's up with him is that being elected to the all-star game in 08 messed with his psyche, and he followed by having a crappy second half 08 and 09 season. The last week of spring training in '10, I saw the old Hart again that was missing when he went to crap. Like I said, that's the short story. Knowing all this, I got him in all my leagues this year.

This was all confirmed earlier in the week in a very good interview. He basically admitted that he became complacent last year (and I'm assuming end of 08). The boos from the fans got to him at the end of the year, and fans were pissed he won his arbitration case in the off-season. He basically said he never wants to play like that again, and came into the season with a new attitude and desire. Getting contacts also may have helped. He said in the spring he's never seen which way the laces on the ball were spinning until he got his contacts. Unbelievable.

Will he continue his pace to hit 45 HRs or whatever it is? No, I believe he'll still hit 35. You're looking at last years Jason Werth. Throw out all the split stats you have from previous years on him. They're meaningless and explained by his mental approach.